Port Arthur man sentenced to 70 years for wreck with rapper's car

Published 12:00 am, Friday, May 1, 2009

Shawn Donnell Jones, 32, was sentenced this week to 70 years in the state penitentiary in connection with a 2006 aggravated assault that ended in a car chase after an accident with rapper Pimp C.

Two Port Arthur men were watching a music video being shot on the west side of Port Arthur and as they drove away from the scene, gunfire erupted and their rear windshield was shattered by a round from an SKS assault rifle fired by Jones, according to the Jefferson County District Attorney's office.

A chase began at that point, with Jones following the victims and firing at them several times, striking their car with at least six shots. The assault only ended when the victims' car ran into Pimp C's car at an intersection. Police escorting the rap star immediately gave chase and captured Jones and his accomplice Joseph Paul Smith, who was driving while Jones was firing.

Evidence included gripping video footage of the chase, and Jones' fingerprints on a partially empty box of bullets and a clip from the assault rifle, both of which had been thrown from the car during the chase.

In the punishment phase of the trial, there was also proof of Jones' 19 previous criminal convictions, along with 90 incidents of misconduct while incarcerated.

Prosecutor Pat Knauth said, "We were most gratified by the jury verdict against a chronic offender who has been a terror in the city of Port Arthur for years. Who knows who else might have been injured or killed by his actions if the police hadn't been right on top of this situation?"

Jones must serve at least 30 years of his sentence before he can be considered for parole. Another aggravated assault charge is pending, and is scheduled for trial on Monday, May 4.